Category Archives: Drive Away CCA 2012 03 06

Our high schools and college graduates mostly have to go somewhere else, because jobs here are few and many of them don’t pay enough for a decent living. Should we not care enough about our families and our community to come up with strategies that grow existing businesses and attract new ones that will employ local people?

We need discussions and strategies that involve the whole community, going beyond just the usual planning professionals, to include all groups and individuals with information or opinions, whether they got here generations ago or last week: for fairness and for freedom.

The Industrial Authority focus group meeting I attended Wednesday was refreshing, because their consultants asked the opinions of people some of whom previously had to picket outside. The previous day, VLCIA Chairman Roy Copeland said this strategic planning process was a long time coming. I agree, and while nobody can say what will come of it at this point, I hope it does produce a real Economic Development Strategy.

Got caught promoting laws that encourage people to kill people? Double down on laws to kill people through pollution! That’s what ALEC is doing. And look who’s apparently a member of ALEC: the Southern Company, parent of Georgia Power, and proprieter of several of the largest and dirtiest coal plants in the country.

After major corporations like Pepsi, Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, and Coke all ditched the rightwing group, ALEC announced that it would abandon its drive to enact gun and voter ID laws. The group’s decision came after a couple high profile campaigns were launched decrying ALEC’s involvement in passing the ‘stand your ground’ laws.

But the group is actually stepping up its efforts in other arenas, as I noted last week. And two new reports, one from ProPublica, the other from DeSmogBlog, outline its new aims: dismantle legislation that incentivizes renewable energy generation, and preserve loopholes that allow natural gas companies to keep the chemical cocktails in their fracking fluids secret from the public.

John Quarterman, who is with a group informally called “Drive
Away CCA” visited The Morning Drive to discuss the group’s
displeasure with a possible private prison that is being discussed
in Lowndes County. A possible extension for the company to continue
its plans here is up for renewal and the group feels its location
here would be bad for area businesses and citizens alike.

Join us 5PM Tuesday March 6th 2012 at the private prison site (Dasher-Johnson
Road off US 84 at Inner Perimeter) for a motorcade by Valdosta City
Hall to the Industrial Authority offices: for education and against the
private prison.

When:

5PM (rush hour) Tuesday March 6th

How:

Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles

Who:

Everybody is invited

What:

Oppose the Private Prison

From:

Proposed Private Prison Site
US 84 @ Inner Perimeter Road
(Staging on Dasher-Johnson Road next to US 84)

By way of:

Valdosta City Hall
Valdosta City Council Work Session
Honk to say No CCA!

Winn Roberson read the newspaper Friday (February 24th)
and realized the prison site
was down the street from him, so the news finally sunk in.
This motorcade was his idea to drive the point across to the
Industrial Authority: we don’t want a private prison!

John S. Quarterman lives about as far away from the prison site
as you can get in Lowndes County, but realizes it will affect
everybody for many counties around.
So let’s say CCA Go Away!